FUnding
We're determined to put the "fun" in funding.
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Okay, that's a stretch, but we have laid out a guide that we hope will help you navigate the many available funding opportunities.
application fee waivers
Application fee waivers do exist! The key is to start your investigation into them earlier rather than later. Most schools will offer waivers for those who demonstrate financial need. Some will offer waivers for those who are/were in the military, have participated in graduate school preparatory programs like Amgen Scholars, GEM (which will be described below), McNair scholars, etc.
If you're unsure if they offer any, e-mail the admissions staff and ask! If you need help drafting that e-mail, let us know. Attending conferences is also a great way to interact with faculty/staff from a university, and potentially receive a fee waiver. Lastly, if you sign up for e-mails through the GRE, many schools will contact you about applying, and some will offer you a fee waiver to apply. Take advantage of these!
Fellowships
Fellowships are essentially scholarships for graduate school. There are many options out there, but we will highlight a few below.
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Internal Fellowships
Some universities offer internal fellowships to students that are accepted to their school. These fellowships should (it depends on the school) cover your tuition, provide you with a stipend, and include health insurance. This is often why people say that getting a PhD is free, and is usually the advantage of a PhD over a Master´s financially. Schools might have fellowships that Master´s students can apply for or are considered for, but unfortunately they are usually self-funded.
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External Fellowships
External fellowships are those that are not provided by the school, but are provided by an outside source such as the NSF or the GEM Foundation. The ´Helpful Links´ section below contains a handful of available fellowships. The NSF GRFP is open to all STEM majors applying to research-based Master´s and PhD programs. They provide $34,000 for 3 years and cover $12,000 in tuition costs that can be used at any U.S. institution. It is extremely prestigious and is a very rigorous application that should be started at the end of August (or earlier), as it is due in October. If you need assistance with this application (which you will) the best place to start is to look for resources at your university. Check out if your university hosts application workshops or has staff available to help you develop a great application. The second best place is none other than the internet. As we said the application is rigorous, but worth it. Once you have the essay for the NSF GRFP written, it makes your graduate school essays much easier to write.
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The other fellowship that we will highlight is the GEM Fellowship. This fellowship is for underrepresented minorities applying to Master's or PhD programs in STEM. They have slightly stricter guidelines and work differently than the NSF GRFP. GEM is a relationship between a specified list of universities (listed on their website) and companies. If you win the full fellowship, they will pay $16,000 for a stipend for your first year ($8,000 per year for Master's students). Tuition is covered by the university you attend for both PhD and Master's students as part of this program as well. The companies partnered with GEM give fellowship recipients the opportunity to complete a mandatory paid internship with them for 1 summer as a PhD student and 2 summers as a Master's student. Thus it is a 3-way relationship. More details are listed on the website. This application is less intense than the NSF GRFP as it only has 1 essay, but still requires time. Starting this in September gives ample time to complete it by November.
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Why should I apply to a fellowship if all of the schools I'm applying to accept me with an internal fellowship?
We'll tell you why. For one, showing that you applied is very attractive to schools because it shows that you're motivated about securing your own funding and serious about graduate school. In addition, some schools may offer fee waivers to students who have applied to GEM. More importantly, if you find yourself not accepted to any universities but receive a fellowship, universities may be willing to reconsider your admission. External fellowships also help if you are accepted to your dream school, but your top choice of professor does not have enough money to support you as a student. As a fellowship recipient you have your own funding, which may give you the chance to work in their lab regardless of their current funding status. Or, in the worst case, you end up with both internal and external fellowships and are a rich grad student ;)
Helpful links
Kat's Take
Early in my application process, a faculty member told me that any application she received that stated a student had not applied for external fellowships was a sign of laziness--an automatic red flag. That stuck with me. There is really no reason that you shouldn't apply for external funding.
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With that said, the most challenging part of my application process was applying for the NSF GRFP. I worked tirelessly on crafting my research project and statement of purpose. I sent my application to anyone and everyone who would read it, including those not in my field. Sadly, I was not selected for the fellowship, however the application challenged me to develop a novel study that would have an impact on both science and the greater community. I am grateful for the overwhelmingly positive reviews that I received on my proposal. They helped me recognize that I have the ability to design experiments that are respected by experts in my field. And, that is an amazing feeling.
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Kiara's Take
Oh fellowships, such a fun time. So I applied to both the NSF GRFP and the GEM Fellowship. I did not win the NSF GRFP and am an Associate Fellow for GEM. Both Kat and I didn't really find out about the NSF GRFP until we did the Graduate School Bootcamp at Duke University. Even after finding out, I didn't think I would apply due to the research essay because 1) I hadn't done research in a lab for a long period of time (I had only done summer research internships) and 2) my previous research experiences weren't really related to what I wanted to focus on in graduate school (global health). So, I had remembered while I was on co-op I had heard a research talk from someone at Harvard's Wyss Institute during a conference. I thought the technology he talked about was really cool, so I reached out to him and he helped me throughout the whole essay even though we had never met. I am forever grateful to him for that. However, my lack of depth on the topic showed in my research essay that my reviewers mentioned. I'm still glad that I applied, because it did set me up to be less stressed when I was applying to schools because I had a great base to begin with. So apply! Also you can apply for the NSF GRFP twice and having comments is great to work on your application for the next time.
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Now, with GEM I also was considering not applying because I did not want to do the summer internship if I was given the fellowship. I did apply and ended up becoming an Associate Fellow which essentially is a safety net. If for some reason I were to lose funding from my school, GEM would be there to help me out. I also have access to the networking opportunities that Full Fellows have as well.
So the moral of the story is just apply! Even if you don't get the fellowship there are still other benefits to applying.
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